It's Not My Time: Vincent's Origins
by Black Scepter
Summary: Set before the events of Ghost Rider. Vincent Valentine is a vampire who lost his faith in humanity, until he meets a woman who could be the last chance to save him from his pit of despair.


This one shot is in anniversary of our one year on the site, we've all came a long way from the beginning, I was going to write a one shot for the PW section. But I do a lot of one shots for that section so I'd thought do something for my KH fic: Ghost Rider. My brother Mark and I were talking and he suggested it, and when I said I wanted to delve into Vincent's past he said 'go for it'.

I came a long way, and I don't plan on giving up. Like the Three Doors Down song playing at the end of this story, It's Not My Time.

* * *

It's Not My Time

Vincent's Origins

He gave up. There was no fight left in him anymore, all he ever did fell short and ended badly. Like pieces of glass stuck inside you, every mistake is a painful wound to him, which he looks back with sadness and hate. So he ran…he ran as far he felt like it… which is why he is currently living in an abandoned clock tower in a lively city. Just his luck, so much for the ideal vampire location.

So he spent his nights in bars, drinking silently amongst the laughing, talking, dancing throngs of people. He cursed their happiness, what did they do to deserve such lives? It would only end for them while he lived on. Here they were, laughing and playing, didn't they know life was short for mortals? They could be doing other things, great things, but they'd rather waste it all…foolish humans. So he drank his eternal days away, what was death to him? Nothing. He had nothing to be around for, so the day his immortal life would come to end he would graciously accept. Or so he thought.

It was a normal night for him, at his usual bar, drinking his 7th shot and not even feeling remotely intoxicated, and she came in. A woman, she was a college student, tall, with long black hair, she wore a black T-shirt that had Pat Benetar on it, a purse swung around her shoulder, a black skirt that stopped above her knees and a pair of high heels. She approached the bar and ordered a beer. Vincent found himself regarding her, there was this air about her… something that seemed to lure him into her. But he shook it off with a grunt.

That grunt caught the woman's attention though, she turned to him and gave him a once over before saying, "Hi."

Vincent didn't respond, so she tried again, "I like your costume."

She was probably referring to his red cloak and black suit and black glove he used to conceal his claw, he didn't even look at her when he grunted.

"It's not a costume."

"Really?" The woman responded, looking amused, "I like it though."

_Nice going Vincent, you drew her in, _he cursed himself for responding. Maybe if he didn't respond she would ignore him and he could drink on. But it was not in this woman's agenda to ignore him.

"Hey, barman, give my friend here a drink, on me," She called out.

Friend? As if, he barely knew this girl, and she barely knew him, what kind of crazy was this girl to even consider him a friend?

"Sure thing Mira," The barman nodded, giving him another shot.

Vincent stared at the drink and drank the thing in one shot, he slammed it a little louder than needed and gave a loud unneeded satisfied noise, praying it would drive her off. It didn't.

"Well?" She asked indignantly.

Vincent stared at her before responding, "Well what?"

"Aren't you going to say thank you?" She asked, spurring him on to answer her.

Vincent turned away from her gaze and smirked, "No."

"Oh well," The woman sighed, "I'm Mira Lightlighter, you got a name?"

Vincent made a growl, but it was drowned by the music in the background. "Vincent Valentine."

"Well Vincent, you come here often?" She asked, scooting next to him.

"Every night," he responded, why wouldn't she leave?

"Every night?" Mira repeated with a laugh, "Someone's a bit lonely are we?"

"I'm not lonely," Vincent said sharply, him and people? He'd rather watch them all burn…

"Then why are you here every night? Don't you have friends and family to go home to?" She asked.

Vincent took a shot of what must be his 15th now, and still not feeling intoxicated, before responding, "No."

"Then I rest my case," Mira said with a satisfied smile.

It was the way she smiled that annoyed him to hell, part of him wanted her to leave and never bother him again. And yet… there was this small, tiny part that wanted someone to talk to him, but he pushed that tiny part aside and simply wanted her to leave. She stayed for a few hours, talking about daily things, like annoying neighbors, or family problems and things Vincent couldn't give a crap about. Finally, after a full hour of it he was getting sick and tired of her yapping. But before he could say anything about it, she stood from her chair.

"Anyway I have to go, thanks for listening," She smiled as she headed for the door, stopping to look back. "See you tomorrow?"

Before Vincent could even object she gave a wave and left, leaving the vampire with the need to order something stronger. As promised, she returned the next day, and the day after that, she came every week, just blabbing away. At first, Vincent despised it and was tempted once or twice to break his vow and bite her. However, gradually, slowly, and reluctantly he began to listen to her. Although she was still annoying, the urge to end his suffering disappeared. But after three weeks of reluctantly listening to her, he lost his patience.

"Look will you go bother someone else already?!" He pleaded, he just now heard for the umpteenth time about how her boyfriend wanted to get 'serious'.

Mira gave him a frown and sighed, "Because you're the only one who will listen."

"I don't have a choice on that matter!" he retorted, chugging down another shot.

"You could always go to another bar," she suggested with a bitter voice.

He could, in fact he was wondering why he didn't leave earlier? Maybe because he kinda enjoyed the company? Or was it because he liked the brew being sold here, it was one of those things. But he didn't voice his reasons.

"I like this one just fine," he growled.

Mira stood up angrily and walked to the back of the bar, she walked back out the back door and out of sight. He gave a satisfied sigh and was just about to drink another when he caught whiff of a familiar smell…vampires, two of them. He looked around alertly and saw two men walk out the back door, the two of them reeked of vampire blood. He paused, why would two vampires leave a bar full of humans to go to an empty alley? Then the answer hit him, Mira walked out that door, she was an easy target! Now although he spent the last three weeks wanting to silence her blabbering mouth, no person, not even her, deserved to die being food for two greedy vampires. Or at least that's what he told himself. He headed for the back door and out to the alley, the two men had already caught up to her and were dragging her back to the alley. They threw her to the wall and they were about to change form and feed on her, until Vincent drew his gun and shot at him. He hadn't gotten around to removing all the silver bullets from Cerberus, so this hurt the poor vampire like hell.

The other one was in the middle of finding out what's going on when Vincent ran up and threw him to the ground, grabbing Mira's hand and yelling.

"Come on!"

They ran for several minutes, he knew that they weren't following them, but he wanted to be sure. Finally they stopped outside a clothing store, she was out of breath and tired so she rested against the building wall. She slumped on the dirty red brick wall and lowered herself to the ground, Vincent knew she had to be shaken up, she was nearly killed. He heard soft moans come from her, strangely he wanted to comfort her, but as he got close to her he realized she was crying or anything…she was laughing.

"That was a close one wasn't it!" she chuckled, startling the vampire so much that he tripped backwards. "Aww, did I worry you? You're sweet."

"B-but, you…" Vincent sighed wearily, "You're one odd woman."

"That's what makes me a joy to be around," she laughed, wiping her brow from tired sweat. "But seriously…"

Her laughing grin changed to a slight frown as she said with the utmost sincerity, "Thank you."

Vincent had never been thanked before. He is normally hated, ridiculed, shot at, and/or burned (or almost burned), but _thanked_? He wasn't used to accolades, or hell, being liked.

"You're um… you're welcome," he muttered, helping her up.

Since that incident, Vincent wasn't so annoyed by her company anymore…

* * *

Days changed into weeks, weeks changed into months, and time slowly rolled on. Vincent had begun and unlikely friendship with Mira, a woman whose personality clashes against his, not to mention she's human. She introduced him to her boyfriend, Godo. The two of them never got along so well, but he put up with it for her sake. One day, the two of them were walking through the market place when they saw police cars drive by them. Mira, who was curious why they were in this part of town, followed them. Soon, they stopped in front of a flower shop where paramedics were loading up two body bags. Vincent could smell it, blood has been spilt here, a lot. He saw Mira talking to an officer and walked over to them, from there he decided to catch up on the conversation.

"What happened here?" Vincent asked.

The Officer sighed and probably repeated what he said multiple times already, "A robbery gone wrong, guy holds up the store with a gun, store owner takes out his gun, both end up with neck and chest wounds."

And with that he walked off, leaving the two of them on the streets. Mira sighed sadly at the scene.

"How terrible…" she lowered her head.

Vincent scoffed, "Another example of human stupidity."

Mira looked at him in confusion and he continued, "One man wanted money, so much so that he turned to a life of crime and became a thief and murderer. The store owner, who probably wanted to protect his store more than his life, drew the gun and in result, they end up dead."

He looked at the group of people staring at the store and said bitterly, "People are worthless, they're incompetent and only think of themselves, their own needs. Two more of those stupid people just left the world. We're better off without them."

Mira stared at him with an odd expression, almost like a hurt puppy, "How can you say that…? Someone just died today, two people, in fact and all you can say is that it's a good thing?! That's…that's inhumane!"

"Oh? And people naturally care about others out of the goodness of their hearts, I don't think so," he smirked bitterly, turning away from her.

But Mira wouldn't have it, she ran up and looked him in the eye, "I do. And you listen to me Valentine, forget about the crime for just once second and think about the family that storeowner had. Someone today lost a father, a son, a brother, or even a nephew, don't you even care at all? Or, are they incompetent as well?"

Vincent was shocked at her bluntness, "What I meant was…"

"What about me? Am I incompetent as well?" she asked, looking him in the eye.

"Um…I…" her last words left him speechless, he couldn't think of a retort to utter or a some insult to throw.

She sighed and turned away from him, "Yeah, I'd figure you'd say that too…"

Mira walked off and back to the market place, Vincent was filled with mixed feelings: anger, hate, sadness, and confusion. Why were her words affecting him so much, he didn't care about other people… did he? Sure he spent some time with her, a lot of time, but that doesn't mean that they were friends or anything… was it? A long time ago, he would have just snarled at someone's comment and then walk off. Now, he wasn't so sure how to act, so he lowered his head and followed her. Feeling ashamed of himself, and how he acted.

When he caught up to her he was receiving the silent treatment, which seemed impossible with her due to the fact she loved to talk. But yet, they spent most of their day silently walking. It was only then when she was leaving that he finally got the courage to say something.

"I'm sorry!" he blurted, startling her and everyone around them. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to offend you by saying those things… sorry."

Mira looked shocked at the outburst but smiled, "All right, I'll forgive you this time. But Vincent… there are more to people than you believe, there may be more than you can see, just give them a chance."

Vincent nodded, reluctantly though, _give them a chance? I've given them many chances and they just waste them, I can't…I can't believe in the good of people. Not after they betrayed me too many times…_

* * *

Although he promised Mira to have more faith in people, it was an easier said than done situation. But she kept on pushing him to try, saying things like 'people are good, they just need to help from time to time', and 'if you give up on yourself you give up on the world,' or even 'only by allowing strangers in can we find new ways to be ourselves'. They were kinda weak to him, how can he just accept the trust and belief of some total stranger? The only person he liked and even trusted was Mira herself, and one night, he learned just how much she trusted him. It was late one night when his cell phone began to ring. He recognized the caller id and opened it up, giving his voice a sleepy tone to indicate he was really sleeping.

"Hello…? Mira?"

"Vincent… can we talk?" she didn't sound like herself, she sounded…upset.

"Um, it's a bit late… but what do you need to talk about?" he was worried, what happened?

"Can we talk in person? At your place?" she asked.

There was only one problem with her request, his place was in a clock tower high above the city, and his fridge was full of blood bags. He sighed and pursed his lips in thought before speaking.

"How about outside your place? No offense but I kinda have a…friend over, and it may not be a…"

"I understand, okay, outside my place," then she hung up the phone.

_Something's wrong…_ he thought as he changed out of his cloak attire and to some street clothes. He left the tower and leapt on the building tops to her house, which was in the suburban part of the city, she lived with her parents while she went to college. He found her standing outside the front porch, her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands, something was wrong. He leapt off the neighboring building and walked over to the front gate, when she saw him she ran off the front steps and into his arms. She was shaking badly, what happened?

"Oh Vincent, I'm so glad you came…god I don't know what to do…" she sobbed in his shirt.

"Mira just… just tell me what's wrong," he said, leading her to the porch and sitting on the porch swing.

She wiped her eyes and gave a sniff, "It's… I'm…"

She broke off there and looked unsure, but he knew something was up. He could smell it from her, the fear, the uncertainty, and something else… like… a budding entity, a second soul inside her. Then it hit him, it hit him so furiously that his eyes widened, it made sense now, why she was so scared.

"You're pregnant aren't you?" he asked.

Her eyes widened but she nodded, "How did you guess?"

"I'm just observant," he said simply, leaning forward. "How long?"

"A few weeks," she answered.

"Who's the father?" he asked.

"Godo," she muttered, avoiding his gaze.

"I see…" Vincent frowned, lowering his head as well. "Did you tell him about this?"

"Yes," she sniffed, "He took it so badly, he was scared, I was so scared… I am scared, I can't do this, I can't be a mom now."

In the years he knew her, he had never seen her so upset. It was…unnerving, it made him angry to hear such a terrible thing had happened to her. But he kept his emotions in line, otherwise his vampire form may slip out a bit. He took a deep breath and looked at her.

"So, how are you going to do this?" he asked.

"Huh?" she frowned, looking at him curiously.

"You've got a path ahead of you, two roads: you can accept you will be a mother and try to raise this baby, or you can abandon it and try to go about your normal life," he paused and added sincerely, "Either way, I'll support you in this. I'll help you, even if Godo won't."

Mira looked at him and said, "You mean it…? Do you really?"

He paused, mostly because this was a life changing answer, hanging on the cold summer night. He leaned back in his seat and thought about _his_ choice, his life changing answer. Then he looked back at her and for the first time she knew him, he smiled.

"I mean it, I'll be here for you."

Mira's face reverted back to her look of glee and she hugged him, "Then I do! I do want to have this baby, oh I knew you'd come through Vincent, I lo—,"

Before she could finish her sentence, a car drove in front of her house. Godo climbed out of his car and walked towards the swing porch, ignoring the presence of Vincent.

"Mira…" he began, putting his hands in his pockets shamefully. "When you told me… that you were pregnant, I overreacted, I said some things I shouldn't have and I let my anger get the best of me…"

"No duh," Mira replied bitterly, causing him to wince.

"But…I thought about it… and I changed my mind. If you want to have this baby then I want to be with you every step of the way, even more so…" Godo said, getting on one knee and pulling out a box from his pocket. "Mira Lightlighter, will you marry me?"

Vincent raised an eyebrow and looked at Mira, who was frozen in a look of uncertainty and confusion, she looked at Vincent and met his eyes. He didn't know why she thought his crimson eyes were normal, she never said anything about them, but the look in his eyes seemed to clear up her confusion.

"Yes Godo, I'll marry you," she answered, running up and embracing the young man, kissing him lovingly.

Months later, Mira Lightlighter became Mira Kisaragi. Vincent was invited to the wedding, but he had to lie to her and say he couldn't make it. It broke his heart hearing her upset voice, but he couldn't enter a church, more less someone's house without asking permission. It was the rule of the vampires. But he watched her from afar, even through the binoculars he knew she was very happy, and very beautiful. He knew what she was going to say on those porch steps that day, and he wondered what would have happened if he accepted it. But… there was a truth not even he could deny: he was immortal. He couldn't age like she could, she would grow old… while he would stay young. It was that painful moment on the rooftop when he also realized this fact. _If I continue to see her… she's bound to notice why I stay exactly the same, and she doesn't. And I can't let her know my secret, not only would it be dangerous, she wouldn't accept me… they never do. _He lowered his head and realized what he had to do, and…it would break his heart, and whatever soul was left inside him to do it. He had to cut ties with her…forever.

* * *

In the years that followed Vincent learned she gave birth to a girl, although he swore to himself he had to cut his ties with her. He still watched everything from a nearby rooftop, she was a beautiful baby too, had her mother's eyes. In the months and years that also followed he found himself regretting his vow, especially since she kept calling him and asking to meet again. Luckily he avoided the questions and they talked their hours on the phone, he learned about Godo's job, and how the baby first laughed for the first time. He was still able to comfort her too, like the one night when Godo lost his job.

"…I mean, all he did was ask about the building foundations and Mr. Almasy just fired him, he's been trying for days but he just won't take him back. What do we do Vincent?"

"Don't give up on Godo just yet," Vincent responded, "He'll find some way to turn things around. If not then I can always give you some money…"

"Thanks, but I think I'll give him another shot. Oh, and little Yuffie just did the cutest thing, she put her toes in her mouth and gave me this puppy dog look. You have to come see it sometime…"

"Yeah," Vincent said, his heart breaking more as he lied to her. "Yeah, I'll um, drop by sometime…"

"You mean it this time?" she would always ask, and he would always reply the same.

"Yeah…I'll try to."

It was a continuous cycle, he would always say he would and would not. Telling himself this was to protect her, and her daughter too. But despite Mira's best attempts in the past, Vincent still didn't care about other people. Sometimes he would see some horrible crime happening and he would just… walk away. Whenever he thought about how people betrayed him… it burned him up at the thought of helping people. But when he thought about Mira's words, he felt shame at ignoring them. He was confused at how his life came to this. The shame he felt… the anger he felt… what was he supposed to be? An eternal drifter, or some righteous hero?

_What's the matter with me? Why am I so confused about this, I tried being a hero, it didn't work… what has the humans ever done for me? Nothing. The world is better off without them._ he thought to himself, lying in his bed. _But what about Mira? What is she? Is she like the rest of the world, no, she is more, which is why I have to stay away from her… to save her._

That's what he always said to himself, although he missed her terribly, he couldn't be with her. But, not being with her began to cause problems with their friendship, she began feeling from ignored to forgotten…which led to the events of that terrible night…

Vincent was sitting in a café in the market place, not that he could fill up on human food, but he had a hankering for coffee and donuts when his cell rang. He checked the caller id and flinched, it was Mira, he could have just ignored it… but maybe he was so desperate that hearing her voice was just enough for him. He set his donut down, flipped open his cell, and spoke into it.

"Hey Mira…"

"Where are you?" she asked suddenly. "Out in Twilight Town like you said you were?"

"Um, yes," Vincent said, wondering where she was going with it.

"Oh really?" she said angrily, "How are the donuts you jackass?"

Vincent froze, that sounded close. He looked around and he saw something that made him feel sick, Mira was standing across the street, a phone in one hand and her other balled into a fist. Vincent stood up and ran across the street to her, trying to think of an explanation.

"Mira, I—,"

But she took her balled up hand and smacked him across the face, hard. She tried to smack him a second time but he caught it with his gloved hand.

"Don't you touch me!" she screamed, pulling away from his grasp. "You lying no good son of a—,"

"Mira please, you have to let me explain," he begged.

"Don't bother, apparently our friendship means nothing to you anymore," she pulled away from him, glaring. "You just want to live your life alone and sad so go ahead, I don't care anymore!"

With that she turned around and she ran, he tried to catch up to her, which isn't hard for a vampire but the crowds were so thick that her scent was becoming masked with others. He desperately pushed through the crowds, trying to find her, but soon her scent was gone. He stopped running and fell on his knees.

_Damn it…_

* * *

He was sitting in a chair in his clock tower, remembering all the times he spent with her, the laughs (or the times she laughed and he grinned a bit) they had, and what he just screwed up at. But he was thinking about something else, about how much this lowly human meant to him. His life was no interesting story to himself anymore, he only remembered the parts with her. And to sit here and think that their friendship could just end like this? _There has to be a way to save it… _he thought desperately, _but how…?_

Then he realized it, he had to tell her. He had to tell her he was a vampire, they've been friends for so long… the time was right. He felt an upheaval of hope, there was a chance… there was a chance…

Or so he thought.

* * *

It didn't take him long to find the apartment complex where the Kisaragis now lived, he took the elevator to the 23rd floor and proceeded to the room on the far right. He knocked on the door twice and heard footsteps on the other side, soon he heard the door unlatch and Mira appeared in the doorway.

"Oh… what do you want?" she said bitterly, but her bitterness didn't drown his renewed hope.

"I…I've been a terrible friend," he began, pausing to see her scoff in agreement. "But, I thought what I was doing was protecting you, because if you found out what I was then you wouldn't accept me… but it's time now. I can tell you…"

He paused to see her look of confusion and curiosity as he took a deep breath and said, "I'm a vam—,"

"Mrs. Kisaragi, please don't waste our time," a voice said from behind her.

Vincent angled himself to see two men in business suits behind her, he recognized them from the place Godo worked at, Almasy industries. But, there was something odd… a different smell, a smell that shouldn't be there. He tried to figure out what that scent was, he smelt it before… but when? Then it hit him, the last time he smelled this thing was many years ago, when he first met Mira. They were vampires, and Mira let them into her home, she wasn't safe!

"Invite me in!" he begged, realizing what was about to happen.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Invite me in, you have to invite or I can't come in!" he continued, his voice filled with fear and panic.

The two vampires sensed this and looked at each other, before grinning evilly at him. _No…_ he thought as the two men walked up and grabbed her, she yelled out and tried to break free but they were too strong. One man's face morphed to reveal a set of fangs and slit pupils, he gave Vincent a triumphant look and bit down on Mira's neck.

"NO!" Vincent yelled, slamming his hands on the invisible barrier that blocked an unwanted vampire out. "NO!"

Mira's face went to a look of shock to pain, and he slammed on the barrier harder. "The moment you kill her I'll be in there and I'll rip you all apart! YOU HEAR ME!?"

There was another way a vampire could enter someone's home, if the owner, being Mira, was dead. One of the vampires laughed at his threat.

"As if," the vampire said, as his partner continued to drain her of life.

He watched her… he watched her dying… and he couldn't stand it, he pulled off his glove to reveal his gold claw and swiped at the barrier, hoping for some reason that this would work better than his fists. The moment his claw made contact with the barrier it shattered to pieces, the vampires dropped Mira as they realized they were no longer safe.

"How did…?" One of the vampires gasped.

"Holy crap it's Vincent Valentine, the bearer of the key to the Tomb, we got to—,"

But it was too late, Vincent closed his eyes and when he opened them he too had a set of fangs and slit pupils, he gave a roar of rage and leapt over to them. He swiped his claw at the vampire draining Mira and with a brutal deadly force it's head was ripped off, the vampire's partner backed up fearfully and pulled out a silver knife. He tried to stab Vincent but he was too quick for it, he grabbed the hand holding the knife and broke it, the vampire dropped the knife instinctively and he grabbed it as it fell. Then in one motion he plunged the silver knife into the vampire's chest, for silver didn't just work on werewolves alone. The vampire gave a shuttering breath and slumped to the ground.

"Mira!" he fell to his knees next to her, her face was so pale, she was barely breathing.

"This…this is what you…" Mira tried to say, but he silenced her.

"Don't speak, I have to get you to a hospital," he said, but he was surprised when she stopped him.

"Don't…I… you know I…" she began. "I won't…"

"No, you'll make it, you have to!" he begged, scooping to pick her up once again.

"I…I love… I… I love…" she tried to speak, but her voice was fading.

"I know, I know," he reassured her. "I've always known…"

She gave a shuddering smile and nestled her head to his chest, taking one last shuddering breath before her heart…stopped. Vincent was in denial, his senses had to be wrong, but he couldn't hear it… her heart… her voice… it was gone. _No…I can save her… I'll turn her, _he decided, not caring of the consequences as he reached for the silver knife. But something stopped him… why was the silver knife on the ground, and not in the vampire's chest? He smelt something else, what was it? _Gas… a gas leak! _He realized, looking to the kitchen area and he saw that pipe, spewing out gas, right next to a lit lighter. He knew what was going to happen and he leaped out of the way, just as a burst of flame shot from the kitchen and traveled the walls like an army of ants. How was it spreading so fast?! He turned to Mira's body, which he let go of as he leaped out of the way, her body surrounded by the hot flames. He was about to go to her when he heard a scream from down the hall, where one of the flames traveled through. He ran and kicked open the door, there he saw a little girl huddled on her bed, a sea of flames around her.

"Help me!" she screamed, as the flames slowly got closer.

Vincent knew in a matter of minutes the little girl's body will soon be ash, so he leapt through the flames and scooped the tiny girl in her arms. Only to realize he was now trapped, he looked around but the flames were too hot, and he couldn't run through without risking his or the little girl's body catching flame. Then he saw a window and looked down, it was the twenty third floor and suicide to jump…for a human. He held onto the little girl tightly and leaped through the window, she screamed as they fell at an intense speed. Vincent used his claw and began to drag himself on the wall, slowing their fall until he reached the ground. The window they leapt from exploded in a sea of flames as they landed.

_Mira…_ Vincent thought as he ran to the parking lot to set the girl down, he was going to run in and try to get her body when a little hand stopped him.

"Where are you going?!" the little girl asked fearfully, "Don't leave me!"

"I have to…Mira, she's… I have to…" Vincent tried to pull himself from the little girl.

"I'm scared, please don't leave me!" she begged, grabbing onto his pants.

Vincent stopped, he realized he was looking at her for the first time now. The face of this little girl…was like staring into a young version of Mira…his Mira. He crouched down so he could look at her better and he contemplated how much this little girl looked like mother. After awhile he slowly nodded and pulled the little girl closer.

"All right, I'll stay. Until your daddy gets here…" he decided.

"What about mommy?" she asked.

"Your…your mommy…" he began but broke off, he couldn't tell her, so he told her something else. "Your mother was my friend, and…and I'm going to miss her…"

* * *

Revenge. That was pumped through his mind. As promised he stayed with the little girl until her father returned home, returned to see her beloved wife being put in a body bag. Vincent didn't want to see it, he couldn't see it, it was too painful. He returned home to his tower and the moment he stepped through he old wood doors he burst. He picked up chairs and through them across the room, he shattered desks with his claw, he scattered books and papers, and he shattered picture frames. Finally after he finished wrecking everything that was to be wrecked he slumped against the wall, the well known feeling of sadness washed over his eternal body. He sat there and sobbed for hours, it was midnight when he realized there was one thing he had to do. He walked to his closet and pulled his red cloak and black suit out, he sipped on the old clothes and went to his gun closet. He pulled out his pistol Cerberus, his rifle Hydra, and his silver jagged katana. He knew one of the vampires survived, and he somehow managed to set the place aflame while he was mourning. So, he would hunt him down, and he would end his eternal life.

It took him two hours to trace the scent across the city, he cornered the vampire in an alley. He still didn't know he was hunting him, he was clutching his chest wound, his running slowed and his pace slacked. It was time to strike. He leaped from the alley and landed in front of him, the vampire turned in fear and tried to run, but Vincent drew Hydra and shot him in the leg with a silver bullet. The vampire fell and screamed out in pain, but he felt no sympathy for the damned creature. As he stood above the monster it cried out.

"No please, don't kill me, I'll tell you who the true killer is!"

Vincent paused, raising an eyebrow as the vampire continued, "Gregory Almasy hired us, he said Godo Kisaragi was looking into their building plans too deep. He would have set everything he built to nothing, so he had us teach him a lesson. H-here!"

He handed Vincent a folder that was filled with information of faulty plans and tying Almasy to Mira's death. He studied the file and said to himself.

"Yes…this would do nicely…"

The vampire nodded and shifted nervously, "So you'll let me go?"

Vincent turned to the vampire and grinned just as evilly as this vampire did at Mira's apartment, "No."

In a quick movement he drew his katana and sliced the monster's head off, he stood above the corpse as it fell to the ground. The files had in his claw, would be his revenge.

* * *

An anonymous tip soon came in, followed by a delivery of a file containing information on faulty building plans, and the connection to Mira Kisargi's death. Shortly after that, Gregory Almasy was arrested for murder. His wife and son, Marina and Seifer Almasy, held a conference publicly 'apologizing' for Mira's death. It was a load of bull was what it was. By the time he returned to his tower after watching the conference live, he began to clean up the room he wrecked. During his cleaning he came across a shattered picture frame, dated a few years back with him and Mira. He picked it up and stared at the picture, before bringing it close to his chest and holding it tight.

"That was you, the anonymous tip?" a voice said from behind him.

Vincent whirled around and drew Cerberus and pointed it at the stranger in the dark, he held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Whoa whoa, it's only me…"

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, putting his gun after seeing the stranger's face.

"Believe it or not, here on business," the stranger said, walking around the wrecked apartment. "Wow, you went to town didn't you?"

Vincent scowled at him and set the frame on his bed, the stranger saw his sadness and looked at the picture. He looked at Vincent and put two and two together.

"I see… she was you friend?"

Vincent nodded lamely and said in a choked voice, "She trusted me… tried to tell me… to live, to trust people, she was everything… she loved me."

The stranger frowned and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry man, did you get who was…?"

Vincent nodded again, "Doesn't change anything, she's gone. My Mira… my friend… what do I do now? How do I continue like this?"

There was a silence as that question hung in the air, the stranger removed his hand from the shoulder and walked to the other side of the room and sighed.

"Then I guess you have a lot to do," he said.

"What?" Vincent asked.

The stranger looked at him, "She told you to trust people right? To have faith? So you better live up to her words, or does her friendship mean nothing?"

Vincent stood up angrily and stared the man right in the eye, "Don't ever suggest she was nothing, don't ever…"

"Then you better live by her words," the man advised. "There are people who are good, they just need someone to—,"

"Help them from time to time," Vincent finished, reciting the very same words she said to him.

The stranger nodded and turned to the door, "She sounds like a good woman, don't let her down."

The man turned to leave when Vincent called out, "Wait!"

He stopped and looked at the vampire expectantly, there was a small silence as the vampire managed to say, "Thank you."

"No problem," the man nodded, "See you around Vincent."

"See you around…Johnny," Vincent answered back as he left, turning to the window that overlooked the city.

He knew what he had to do, he had to live by her words, he had to show the people of the city. He had to believe…

* * *

Many more years have passed, Vincent sat in the green grass surrounded by stone markers, he sat cross legged on the ground, his head lowered as he began to speak to the grave marker in front of him.

"Sorry it took me so long, but things have been busy lately. Remember that godson of mine? He got himself into a bit of trouble, but despite the hate that's been thrown at him he stays strong to the cause, his cause to redeem himself."

He paused before continuing, "In a way he reminds me of myself, we both lost our faith in the world, and our faith in people. But I had you to pull me out, he has no one like that… I hope he can find someone like that one day."

_Looking back at the beginning of this  
__And how life was  
__Just you and me and love and all our friends  
__Living life like an ocean  
__Now the current's slowly pulling me down  
__It's getting harder to breathe  
__It won't be too long and I'll be going under  
__Can you save me from this?_

"What I've been for the past years you ask? Well, I've been using my… 'gifts' to help other people. It's tough, and not always gratifying but I cope. I just remember what you said to me about people, and the families I help keep whole… it's worth it in the long run."

_Cause it's not my time  
__I'm not going  
__There's a fear in me  
__It's not showing  
__This could be the end of me  
__And everything I know  
__Oh, I won't go…_

"A long time ago, I drank my days away. Of course it's impossible for vampires to be drunk, but it didn't matter. I lost everything I had, I didn't know what was worth going on in this eternity of mine. I debated ending it at a point… then I met you."

_I look ahead to all the plans we made  
__And the dreams that we had  
__I'm in a world that tries to take them away  
__Oh, but I'm taking them back  
__All this time I've just been too blind to understand  
__What should matter to me  
__My friend, this life we live  
__It's not what we have, it's what we believe _

"You didn't care if I actually listened or not, you just reached out. You told me your dreams, your hopes, your plans… god to think I even pushed you away. I feel so ashamed. I didn't know what I wanted, what I desired, what even mattered to me. Your friendship was the best thing I could even ask for, none of us may have gotten the lives we wanted, but we still… you still believed in it, you taught me to as well."

_And it's not my time  
__I'm not going  
__There's a fear in me  
__It's not showing  
__This could be the end of me  
__And everything I know  
__But it's not my time  
__I'm not going  
__There's a fear in me  
__Now I know that  
__This could be the end of me  
__And everything I know  
__Oh, I won't go  
__I won't go_

"Many times I asked myself, 'why should I believe in people again?' And times where I even tried to make you doubt people as well. But you wouldn't hear it, you kept telling me, you kept pushing me to believe in others. And…it took your death to help me believe… that hurts me, I wish I believed in you earlier. You trusted me so much… you loved me. It's not fair you had to leave like that, it's just not."

_There might be more than you believe  
__(There might be more than you believe)  
__There might be more than you can see_

_But it's not my time  
__I'm not going  
__There's a fear in me  
__It's not showing  
__This could be the end of me  
__And everything I know  
__But it's not my time  
__I'm not going  
__There's a will in me  
__Now it's gonna show  
__This could be the end of me  
__And everything I know_

"I miss you everyday, but… I'm doing what you wanted. I have faith again, I have another reason to keep going. I have a will inside, and…and I have you to thank for it."

"Yo Vincent!" a voice called from behind him.

Vincent turned around to face a teenager with brown hair and a leather jacket, he was leaning against his motorcycle parked on the side of the road.

"I hate to be rude but we gotta get a move on, the Rakshasa is gonna strike again and if we don't hurry someone's gonna die," he urged.

"Sorry, coming Sora," he assured, standing up and walking away from the tombstone and joining the boy.

"So, who was that?" Sora asked, getting on his motorcycle.

Vincent paused as he tried to find the best answer, "A friend. Someone who trusted me to death."

Sora shrugged and started up his cycle, the familiar flames surrounded his body and he became the Ghost Rider. He pulled the throttle of his bike and rode down the highway. Vincent ran to the nearest building top and leaped upward. Running from building to building, leaping across the moonlit rooftops, following the teenage Rider. _Thank you Mira… thank you for teaching me to live with an open heart._

_There might be more than you believe  
__(There might be more than you believe)  
__There might be more than you can see  
__And I won't go down  
__No I won't go down…yeahhh…_

**The End.**

* * *

God, that was long to write. You better appreciate it!! Please review and whatnot.


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